Housing starts soar; Walmart's profit miss; Starbucks' new DJ

Investors are looking to build on yesterday's record-setting performances on the Dow (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC).

Helping to boost confidence, a strong report on the housing sector.  The Commerce Department saying April housing starts jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,135,000. That is 20.2% higher than the revised March estimate of 944,000 and above economists' estimates.

Yahoo Finance's Aaron Task says that should go over well on Wall Street.

"Yesterday we got a little bit of a downward bias in the sentiment from the homebuilders and maybe they're looking beyond April to May and June," he notes.  "But this number looks better than expected."

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Walmart profit comes up short

Here’s a look at some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.

Walmart (WMT) shares are lower in early trading. The world's largest retailer posted earnings and revenue that came in slightly short of Wall Street views.  The company said the strong dollar and its recent wage increase in April took a toll on profits.

Home Depot (HD) shares are on the move after the home improvement retailer reported a slight beat on both its top and bottom lines in the first quarter.  Sales jumped 6% from a year earlier as consumers spent money to spruce up their homes. The company also raised its sales and profit outlook for the year.

Related: Walmart falls on miss; Home Depot jumps on beat; Urban Outfitters sinks

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) shares sinking in the early trading.  The big sporting goods retailer reporting disappointing same-store sales in the first quarter and that sales in the current quarter will be flat to up 2%. That's down from a 3.2% gain last spring.  In the first quarter, Dick's profit matched analysts' estimates with revenue coming in a tad higher.

Urban Outfitters (URBN) shares are falling this morning after the retailer reported first quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts' estimates. The company's same-store sales also came in lower-than-expected because of weak demand at its Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters brands.

Starbucks/Spotify join forces

Starbucks (SBUX) and Spotify are teaming up. The agreement allows Spotify music streaming subscribers to get Starbucks rewards points. Users can link their Starbucks and Spotify accounts to suggest the songs played in their local Starbucks stores too.  And Starbucks' baristas and customers will help pick tunes for the stores.

Google's (GOOGL) YouTube is under scrutiny again for its kids app. Consumer advocacy groups filed an updated complaint with the FTC. The groups claimed that the app features inappropriate content for children, including and Bert and Ernie clips dubbed over with explicit dialogue....as well as beer ads.

Only a quarter of workers in the world have a stable employment relationship. That from a report by the International Labour Organization which finds three-quarters of the world's workers are employed on a temporary or informal basis.